Tracy candidates vie for supervisor vacancy

Monday

Oct 1, 2012 at 12:01 AMOct 1, 2012 at 4:12 PM

TRACY - Both candidates running for the only open seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors say it's about service.

Zachary K. Johnson

CORRECTION: Oct. 1, 2012Rhodesia Ransom was first appointed to the Tracy Planning Commission in 2009. Incorrect information appeared in the print and initial online version of this story. The error has been corrected.

TRACY - Both candidates running for the only open seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors say it's about service.

Tracy City Councilman Bob Elliott, 63, sees public office as a natural extension of a long career in military service, from his 1971 graduation from West Point to his retirement as U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel 30 years later.

Tracy Planning Commission Chairwoman Rhodesia Ransom, 38, points to service closer to home, serving two years on a civil grand jury and leading a local nonprofit serving people in the county.

"I'm someone who wants to make a difference," said Ransom, adding that county government provides vital public services. "There are a lot of people in our community who work very hard, but they are one paycheck away from not having a job or not having a home."

Ransom says she has a master's degree in public administration and teaches at the University of Phoenix Graduate School of Business. She directs a Tracy nonprofit that has worked to curb street gangs. It pushed for a pilot program that will start bringing cops into classrooms this year at two Tracy schools.

Elliott's decorated military career included stints on diplomatic assignments abroad that he said showed he could get things done in a variety of situations. He's been in leadership positions since serving as student council president at his high school in Kansas, where he was born and raised.

Working in the private sector since retiring from the military, he is a program manager in the nuclear division of an energy company. His background shows decades of managing budgets and teams and working with people toward common goals, he said. "Those are the types of qualities that I think are essential to be successful as a member of the Board of Supervisors."

Elliott was elected to the Tracy City Council in 2010. Ransom was first appointed to the Tracy Planning Commission in 2009.

The two are running to replace termed out Supervisor Leroy Ornellas to represent the county's southernmost district on the five-member board. It includes Tracy, Mountain House and part of Manteca. Elliott made the November runoff in the June primary with 45 percent of the vote; Ransom got 34.

They have similar views on key county issues. Both stress the importance of economic development and protecting prime agricultural lands, and both oppose state plans to divert water around the Delta by tunnel. And both list public safety among their top concerns.

The county sheriff and district attorney endorsed Elliott, but Ransom got endorsements from deputies, correctional officers, probation officers and other county law-enforcement employee associations. County supervisor is a nonpartisan office, but the county Democrats party backs Ransom, while Republicans support Elliott.

Campaign finance documents show Ransom had strong support from labor groups, while Elliott brought in more money from farmers and developers. Both said they wouldn't bow to special interests if elected.

Elliott said he has broad appeal, and he embraces support from farmers and developers. "It does create a choice." He said he is someone who "will make the decisions that will be best for the county as a whole, for the district as a whole - and not be under the special influence of special interest groups."

Ransom said her record on the Planning Commission and the grand jury show she will have the county's best interest in mind. "I always do what's right, because it is right," she said. "It's quite important to have someone who serves the needs of the entire county, and not one particular interest group."